Meekness Is Not Another Word For Weakness

Meekness Is Not Another Word for Weakness

God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. Matthew 5:5

The Jews who lived in Jesus’ day had been eagerly anticipating the Messiah as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of “the Spirit of the Sovereign LORD” being upon God’s servant, a message spoken more than four hundred years earlier. They assumed that the Messiah would rule and deal gently with them and harshly with their oppressors.

None of them anticipated the Messiah Himself would be a humble and meek person and would suggest their lives would be blessed if their behavior displayed meekness too. They understood military and miracle power; they even understood the power of compromise, but they did not understand or agree with the power of meekness.

Meekness wasn’t a common trait found in a powerful leader. And then Jesus was born in a manger. Suddenly something special turned the mundane into the majestic.

And that is often how God does what God does, through the ordinary and the common—transforming it into the majestic and eternal. Simple tools, through gentle and pure lives, like the baby born in Bethlehem; simple moments, like that moment when God came to earth in a dingy, dank stable.

Meekness, gentleness, and humility are not the first words you might encounter in trying to characterize the professional athlete who often relies on strength, speed, toughness, and confidence—even cockiness, perhaps, at times—to be able to excel.

But meekness is the very character quality that we all should have.

Meek people realize their position before God and gladly live it out before their fellow human beings. They do not look down on themselves, but they do not think too highly of themselves either. Their focus remains on God. They know their gifts and abilities come from God. They remember that where they want to be is standing before a Holy God, available to Him, allowing Him to flow and work through them for His glory, not for self or societal adulation. They don’t carry a microphone around with them to tell others of their deeds.

The spirit of meekness before God is found in the Spirit of Christ, who gave His life as a sacrifice for you and for me. Clearly, the meekness Jesus displays is not weakness, but a strength to aspire to make our own.

Do you know anyone who is meek and humble? Can you see where their strength lies?

Uncommon Key > What do you need to be more humble about today? When you are meek and humble, you are acknowledging that it is all about God, not you. That’s where the power to live each day will come from.